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New appointment to IQE plc Board

19 December 2016

Cardiff, 19 December 2016:IQE plc (AIM: IQE, “IQE” or the “Group”), the leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductor wafer products for the global semiconductor industry, announces the appointment of Phil Smith as a Non-Executive Director of IQE, with immediate effect.

Phil Smith BSc, Hon LLD, DUniv. FIET, became Chairman of Cisco for the UK and Ireland in August 2016, after eight years as Chief Executive. Cisco is the leading global provider of networking for the internet. Mr Smith is also the Chairman of Innovate UK and Chairman of the Tech Partnership. Additionally, he sits on the Board of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB).

Mr Smith has a thirty- five year track record in the technology industry in leading companies including Philips Electronics and IBM. As Chief Executive and now Chairman of Cisco, he leads around 5,500 people in the UK and Ireland. He created Cisco’s British Innovation Gateway (BIG) programme, as a legacy of London 2012 to spark nationwide ingenuity, ambition and growth through technology entrepreneurship. He works closely with government ministers, industrial leaders and business leaders and is a vocal advocate on the transformational nature of technology, sustainability, ambition, inclusion and diversity and the critical need for STEM skills in our future generations.

In September 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Birmingham City University, cited for his outstanding contribution to the IT industry, a “leader among leaders”. In March 2015 Mr Smith was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Warwick and in 2016 an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by his alma mater, Glasgow University.

Phil Smith is also the founding member of ‘The Leaderboard’, a cross industry team of around 30 UK CEOs who compete in Triathlon based events and have raised more than £800,000 for Comic Relief. In 2014 he represented Team GB in his age group at the Triathalon World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Sir David Grant, Chairman of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees, said:

"I am delighted that Phil has agreed to join IQE’s Board. He has been hugely successful leading businesses with technologies that bring transformational benefits to many private and public sector organisations in the UK and the wider world. His vision, his energy and his encouragement of leadership in a global high-technology environment are well matched to IQE’s future aspirations.“